galfridian | Worldbuilding Exchange

Worldbuilder —

I can't wait to see what you come up with! The established universes of Dragon Age and Labyrinth leave plenty of room for the imagination; likewise, there isn't much limiting the direction you take with original works.

I'll leave the usual list of likes and dislikes below, but please don't feel obligated to incorporate my likes. If the story you're imagining can't be complete without one of my dislikes, I only ask that you tread gently.

Info, Likes, & Dislikes

I go by galfridian everywhere. (AO3. Tumblr. Twitter.) If you have any questions, weasleytook can answer any of them, so feel free to DM her. You can also contact me via the mods, if you prefer.

Likes

Evolving relationship dynamics, such as friends-to-lovers, and enemies-to-lovers, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers.

Undercover or otherwise fake relationships as catalysts for genuine relationships.

Two characters stranded together, or on a roadtrip together, or snowed-in together. Any type of close proximity fic.

Soulmarks and soulmate-identifying marks. Multiple soulmates and/or meaningful relationships outside of soulmates.

Secret identities, whether superhero or secret agent or You've Got Mail-style. Two-person love triangles created by secret identities.

Time tropes such as time travel, Groundhog Day-style time loops, time dilation (such as Year Inside, Hour Outisde) alternate timelines.

Miscellaneous: Hurt/comfort, amnesia, confessions, apocalypses, world-building, building-to-relationship, pre-relationship, UST, RST, epistolary fic, reincarnation.

I prefer not to read. . .

Kinks: Alpha/beta/omega, dub-con, incest, voyeurism.

Tropes: Abuse, age regression, bodyswap, genderswap, kidfic.

A note about violence: Aside from abuse, I'm fine with violence, so long as it furthers the plot. Also, I prefer not to read graphic descriptions of gore.

Please do not include. . .

Rape.

Loss of pregnancy or death of an infant. I suffered this in 2016 and can't bear to read about it.

Dragon Age (Video Games)

Characters:

Andraste
Female Hawke
Female Inquisitor
Female Warden

Worldbuilding:

The Circle
Dread Wolf
Tevinter

I chose Andraste, the Dread Wolf, and Tevinter because I'm utterly fascinated by the history of Thedas. I love the complexities and the forgotten and discarded truths. I want to know more about Andraste, whether it confirms or contradicts the accepted histories of Thedas. Tevinter's particular history is connected to Andraste's. I'd like to read about the world Solas destroyed, about the gods he imprisoned.

With the Circle, I'm curious about its beginnings. We know that the Templars, the Seekers, and even the Chantry have all fallen from the original purposes. Surely, the Circles of present aren't like the earliest Circles.

Alternatively, both the Warden and the Inquisitor potentially come from a Circle. In particular, I'm interested in Trevelyan's time there.

Then, with all of these worldbuilding options, there's the question of what comes next. What do these places and things look like after the Dread Wolf's efforts to recover what was lost?

I'd love to see the Inquisitor team-up with Hawke (again) and/or the Warden, or you could write about their own separate efforts to keep Thedas in tact after the Exalted Council.

Note: I forgot to add Original Character(s) to my request. If you need/want to include original characters, please do so!

Elves have attributed their decline to the arrival of humankind from the north, but now we know that Fen'harel's war destroyed the People. Assuming that the Fade spans the whole world, what affect did the Veil have outside of Thedas? Did the Veil drive humankind south?

I'm curious about Solas and the Agents of Fen'harel. I'd love to read something about this. If Solas's explanation of events is to be believed, he treats his people as equals. Is that reflected here? Also, are the Sentinel Elves among his followers?

I'd like to read about Andraste in the beginning: Did the Maker truly come to her? Was she frightened? What about the Elves she allied with? Also, we know from the datamined notes from Trespasser that Solas was awake 1,000 years ago, right around the time of Andraste. Was he somehow involved?

The Inquisition (or what remains of it) plans to move into Tevinter. How does that transition happen? (I didn't request Dorian, but I love him, so include him as much or as little as you like.) What obstacles do they face?

Labyrinth (1986)

Characters:

Jareth
Sarah Williams
Original Characters

Worldbuilding:

Effects of humans on Labyrinth and the Goblin King
Goblin City
Jareth's Castle
Lasting effects of the Labyrinth on humans
The Labyrinth

I'm psyched to request this because all of my favorite Labyrinth fics feature worldbuilding. We're given the smallest morsels of mythology here, but so much can be built on it.

I requested Jareth because I'd like to read more about his origins. He's Fae, but what does that mean? Is there just one Fae people or multiple? Does he rule the only kingdom or just one? How does his personality, behavior, morality compare to other Fae rulers?

I love stories that build on the agency and power that Sarah seizes for herself in the film. I have a particular fondness for fics where Sarah becomes part of Fae society, whether that's as Jareth's Queen or ruling elsewhere in her own right.

I also requested Original Character(s), because I'm curious about other people (human or Fae) who've travelled Jareth's Labyrinth, as well as any Fae characters besides Jareth.

I'm not familiar with any worldbuilding or mythology established outside the film, but if you are and want to include it, feel free.

If Jareth/Sarah is something you like, I do ship them; but I prefer Sarah as an adult, and I like a balance of power in their relationship.

Effects of humans on Labyrinth and Goblin King: As Sarah ran the Labyrinth, she forged friendships. Some of her success came from the fact that some of Jareth's subjects chose loyalty to her. Do other Labyrinth runners create alliances with the Goblins? Does that affect spread? And how does Sarah's victory over Jareth affect him? Does some of his power leave the Labyrinth with her? Could the presence of multiple humans have a greater affect?

Goblin City: Why do the Goblins gather around Jareth and the Castle? Could Sarah's defeat of Jareth affect the City or its inhabitants loyalty to Jareth? Is the City, like the Castle and the Labyrinth, and living, shifting thing?

Jareth's Castle: What if Jareth's Castle could shift between worlds, like its master? Does the Castle have some sentience or does it move under Jareth's magic? If the former, could the Castle rebel against Jareth? Is the strength of the Castle tied to Jareth's strength?

Lasting effects of the Labyrinth on humans:What happens to those who fail and forget the children they've lost? What about those few who succeed? Or is Sarah the first? Does some of the Labyrinth's magic linger in them? Could they sense the Labyrinth's influence in another runner, if they met them? What if Sarah gathered those who'd run the Labyrinth? What if she could help those who'd forgotten remember?

The Labyrinth: Has it always existed? If not, what is its origins? Has it seen more than one ruler? Is there perhaps something in its magic that demands humans running it?

Original Work

Characters:

Female Revolutionary Leader
King Who Found His Soulmate
Non-human Characters
Original Character(s)

Worldbuilding:

Any atypical take on the soulmates trope
First Contact Colonies
Reincarnation
Planetary Cultures
Hidden Magical Communities
Magic exists

Original

yours

Any atypical take on the soulmate trope: Like I said, I'm cool if you don't want to write Revolutionary/King, but if you do, consider this: Only the king's descriptor mentions a soulmate. Alternative ideas: What if recognizing one's soulmate was a "gift" from aliens? What if you recognized your soulmate based on scars you both shared? What if instead of a "soulmate" (romantic or platonic), soulmarks served as a warning: you and this person must avoid each other at all costs?

First Contact colonies: So... How did First Contact go? Did we find them or did they find us? Was it peaceful? Was there a war? Now that we're cohabiting, what does that look like? What type of culture clashes have we seen? Alternatively, you could take First Contact Colonies as a subset of Planetary Cultures and have someone studying First Contact.

Reincarnation: I love Nietzsche/Battlestar Galactica-style eternal return: the same story told innumerable times. I also like the classic tragic reincarnation trope. I'd also be interested in this in a sci-fi setting: is life as we know it one literal time loop? is that why we can only trace our history so far back? or what if contact with an alien culture allowed humans to reincarnate? I'm really not particular about this, I'd love to see any version of this.

Planetary cultures: I like the plural here — multiple planets, each with their own culture (and subcultures). Are there commonalities between these planets? How have the difficulties and advantages of each planet shaped the people who live there? Is travel between planets common or rare? Do the people living on these planets still yearn to go further and see what else the universe has to offer? And of course, that's just the human cultures. I'd love to see a human dropped into an alien culture, having to learn to survive and navigate it.

Hidden magical communities: Rather than the widespread hidden communities of Harry Potter, I like the idea of little, quiet pockets of magic. Little towns that no one pays much attention to; a homestead one has to know how to find in order to visit; etc. How much of non-magical culture do these people have? Why are they hidden? I'm also really interested in what drove them into hiding.

Magic exists:One thing I'd like: a traditional fantasy setting where magic has begun to wane. The how and why are a mystery. But I like the idea of a place magic's existence isn't a surprise, but the fact that it's fading is a concern. I also like the idea of "lost" magic being found again. Also: magical realism.

Worldbuilding Exchange | 2017

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